Stars and Stripes Forever - Hardcover

In this astounding epic of alternate history--a powerful blend of fact, fiction, and strategic possibilities--Harry Harrison poses a provocative what if scenario that would have changed the outcome of the U.S. Civil War--and the course of history. The result is an exciting, action-packed, hugely entertaining novel of war and weaponry on both sides of the Atlantic.

On November 8, 1861, in the Bahama Channel close to Cuba, a U.S. navy warship stopped a British packet, boarded her, and seized two Confederate emissaries on their way to England to seek backing for their cause. England responded with rage . . . and with calls for a war of vengeance. The looming crisis was defused by the peace-minded Prince Albert.

But what if fate had intervened? Imagine how his absence during this critical moment might have changed everything. For lacking Albert's calm voice of reason, Britain now seizes the opportunity to attack and conquer a crippled, war-torn America.

Ulysses S. Grant is poised for an attack that could smash open the South's defenses. In Washington, Abraham Lincoln sees a first glimmer of hope that this bloody war might soon end. But then disaster strikes: English troops have invaded from Canada.

With most of the Northern troops withdrawn to fight the new enemy, General William Tecumseh Sherman and his weakened army stand alone against the Confederates. At sea, the wooden American navy faces the threat of the British iron battleship H.M.S. Warrior.

As Queen Victoria and her prime minister, Lord Palmerston, seek total destruction, Confederate president Jefferson Davis and President Lincoln must make crucial decisions under fierce pressure. Stars and Stripes Forever asks--and then fascinatingly answers--a central question: Could a divided, bloodied America have defeated England, or would the United States have ceased to exist for all time?